31 Facts About Women To Remember During Women's History Month

When you're remembering the women of the past this March, it may be smart to consider the place of women in the modern world as well. In fact, these facts about women to remember during Women's History Month are eye-opening, and provide insight into the realities that many women are dealing with today.

These findings run the gamut from politics to culture to healthcare. There have been gains in positive arenas, such as education, as well as negative ones, such as incarceration rates. Some of these findings are heartbreaking, some are thrilling, and some are just confusing. (Why do Americans greatly overestimate the proportion of lesbians in the population?)

Although the majority of these stats are relatively U.S.-centric, there are some facts that concern the global state of women as well. Refugees, for instance, tend to be a female majority, and child brides are still a major concern in other parts of the world. On a happier note, plenty of other countries have already made the landmark move of electing a female leader. And basically every other country has more humane maternity leave policies than the United States.

The state of women in the modern world is both encouraging and enraging. But by taking a macro look at the trends, policies, and challenges that face today's women, you can get a better sense of the forces that govern our lives. There is still much work to be done.

1Working Moms Are The Norm In U.S.

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According to the United States Department of Labor, 70 percent of mothers who have children under the age of 18 participate in the labor force.

4Women Tend To Be More Philanthropic

5Women Outnumber Men In Running Events

Chances are, you know at least a few women who are dedicated marathoners. This represents a nationwide trend. According to Running USA, 57 percent of U.S. running event finishers were women in 2015. This is a dramatic increase from 1990, in which a quarter of running event finishers were women, as further noted by Running USA. (For what it's worth, the early to mid-2000s saw a dramatic increase in runners of both genders).

6Women Are More Likely To Have College Degrees

As stated by the United States Census Bureau, for the first time since these number were recorded in 1940, women now outrank men in terms of college degree attainment. (Granted, this should not be a gender war; in a perfect world education would be easily available for everyone.)

7Women Dominate The Accounting Industry

Sure, it's generally known that the nursing and teaching professions are dominated by women. But it may surprise you that tax preparers, insurance underwriters, and accountants are also fields in which women are the majority, as noted by Business Insider.

8Maternity Leave In The U.S. Is Abysmal

When compared to 40 other nations, only the U.S. does not require maternity leave, according to the Pew Research Center. Most other countries require at least two months of paid leave, as further noted by Pew Research. (It is worth noting that some individual states or companies in the U.S. may provide more comprehensive maternity leave policies).

10A High Percentage Of U.S. Women Are In Prison

According to the Prison Policy Initiative, women in the United States account for only 5 percent of the world's female population, but U.S. women comprise a staggering 30 percent of the world's women in prison. Only Thailand has a similar incarceration rate of women.

11Plus Size Is The New Average In U.S.

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Aren't women's sizing conventions already arbitrary enough? According to a 2016 study in the International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, the average American woman wears a Misses size 16 to 18, which can be compared to a Women’s Plus size 20W.

12Women Are Putting Off Marriage

13People Overestimate The Percentage Of LGBTQ People

According to Gallup, Americans tend to guess that up to 25 percent of the population identifies as gay or lesbian. Although the exact numbers may be hard to come by, this is probably a wild overestimation. In fact, it may be closer to 1 percent of the US population that identifies as lesbian, according to Statista. This may only reinforce the importance of the LGBTQ community: when you're a small part of the population, it's crucial to have a supportive community who understands you.

15Partners Present More Danger To Women

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, partners and relatives account for roughly half of murdered women; by contrast, less than 6 percent of men are murdered by a partner. It's a sobering statistic. In general, men are more likely to be victims of homicide overall, but women are far more likely to be killed by a partner or family member.

17Intimate Partner Violence Is Still Common

18Too Many Women Go Missing

According to World Bank, nearly 4 million women go missing from developing countries every year. In general, these excess deaths or disappearances would have been far less likely in a higher income country, as further explained by World Bank.

19There Is A Record High Number Of Female World Leaders

20Top Leaders Of Religions Are Rarely Female

Of the nine major U.S. religions that ordain women and permit them to serve in positions of leadership, only four have actually had a female leader in this top position, as noted by the Pew Research Center. On the whole, though, the majority of U.S. women who practice religion belong to a faith that prohibits them from leadership roles, according to Religion News Service.

21Women Are Still Underrepresented In STEM

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As stated by the U.S. Department of Commerce, women hold less than 25 percent of STEM jobs in the U.S., despite the fact that women overall make up about half of the U.S. workforce.

22Women Are Often Overlooked In The Arts

According to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, female artists make up less than 4 percent of the artists represented in the Modern Art section of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. (But, as the Guerrilla Girls shrewdly pointed out, "76 percrent of the nudes are female.") Interesting.

29Many U.S. Women Live In Poverty

30The Wage Gap Has A Racial Component

Many women's issues also intersect with class and race. For an exceptionally bleak look at the wage gap, consider that black and hispanic women make even less compared to white men. Although white women make about 83 cents for every dollar a white man makes, black women only earn 65 cents and Hispanic women get 58 cents, according to Pew Research.